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| Mike Anthony |
Anthony's promotion --or is more an extended execution, could be viewed on two fronts.
One, there's been frequent rumors that Hammer is close to leaving KNBR because he's taken it to its highest peak on the mountain and has one foot out the door.
Second, he's tired of dealing with Cumulus' other irritating ditties --let Anthony deal with the crumbs like KGO and KSFO.
(The others we don't care).
Only Anthony, who's been internally mocked because he has virtually no major market experience and has accelerated and heightened KGO's near irrelevance --is rumored to be on the hot seat at year's end. The numbers aren't that great at KGO and only a minor improvement at Trumpland KSFO.
So, take this move with a grain of salt because in Cloud Company speak, a promotion doesn't mean squat and Anthony's tenure could be tenuous at best and some blip before being Dickeyed
There's only so many middle-aged mediocre White men to hire...even at Cumulus which has made it part of their DNA.
They tell us to talk about the dumbest stuff all the time. We're not interested as hosts so we don't expect the audience to be interested. There are hosts on air who have no business being on KGO. I know it's not what it was but they still should not be on the station. Mike Anthony doesn't know what he's doing but he's pleasant. I guess he will be fired. He's no Jack. Not even sure if he's Paul Hosley or Ron Escarzega. Lee doesn't care about KGO so you're right Rich it's not a promotion or a demotion.
ReplyDeleteAnthony was always in charge of BOTH stations as PD...Lee was/is the Operations Director of the Cluster. Anthony answered to Hammer about Money and Personnel. Both are not programmers they are facilitators for the sales dept. and all corporate wants is someone who can run a spreadsheet. They are both talentless hacks who are what Cumulus wants...Guys who are scared to lose their jobs, and will do anything to keep them. Which is what most of radio has become.
ReplyDelete"Mike Anthony promotion" Great. I just can't wait.
ReplyDeleteMore giggling producers.
There was a time when 810 was on always,the dial was NEVER changed,ever. Now its only on durring the John Bachlor show when I get home from work at 1:00 am. I wake up in the morning and immediately change the station. I know people get tired of hearing this but hey,any station that hires something like that pipe wrench chip franklin deserves what they get,Iand I deserve better....so change the station I do.
ReplyDelete"He's no Jack." That's for certain.
ReplyDeleteI haven't worked at KGO Radio for nearly two decades. I do not know Mike Anthony or Lee Hammer. They may be pleasant fellows, but they're not talk radio programmers.
Ever since the Cumulus bloodbath of 2011, I have listened to the post-Swanson hosts and envisioned Jack listening to their demo tapes. I can't imagine him hiring any of them ... perhaps 10-15 years from now, but probably not.
I know that Rich, and others, don't like Ronn or Brian. But, they're mature, knowledgeable talk show hosts, who engage well with callers. Pat Thurston (deservedly) seems to be met with high-marks and "kudos." And, how strong does the voice calling for John Rothmann's PERMANENT return have to become, before these people hear it?
The number one ratings status of KGO lasted for thirty years. The pre-cumulus decline began when Bernie Ward left. The choices made to fill his spot and a weekend spot did not stop the decline. It only accelerated. By the time cumulus took over, much damage had already been done. Those of us who worked in the golden days, remember when there was a "there" there. You had a variety of hosts with strongly held, well-defended points of view,playing off each other and off the news operation. Hosts would call other hosts on their shows and openly and good naturedly disagree. There was a "there" there then and there is no longer.
DeleteAll of these hosts you like don't get ratings - don't move the needle. Ronn has bad ratings, Brian does very little, they don't like Pat's politics and Rothmann is a one-trick pony they're trying to move away from. Mike wants us talking about womens' issues, food and lifestyle nonsense. He's not going to reverse course.
DeleteYou assume I expressed that I liked any of the current voices on KGO. Read what I wrote again, more carefully. There is one current host I liked a lot, until they brought in the mind-numbing sidekicks. One has a grating monotone, another is too nasal for prime time, and the third has a great voice, but is reduced to pablum. What exactly is a "women's issue"?
DeleteHonestly, it's embarrassing. When you think about Justin running the cluster that's all you need to know. Compare him to Mickey! This guy has no idea and neither do his underlings. I don't even think Lee is his underling to be frank. Lee runs KNBR and that's the only station that makes money. You can bet your ass Justin never listens to KGO except the time he was ass-kissing Ronn Owens on air. Place is a joke.
ReplyDeleteThere is NO PROGRAMMING HERE. NO CREATIVITY. NO ANYTHING.
And be sure to get rid of anybody who has those abilities...Because they will know you are idiots.
DeleteBUT,he LOOKS the part so perfectly. That's all that matters.
ReplyDeleteAnthony, Hammer, Ezcaraga, (or however his name is written) or any of the other dweebs Cumulus has put in charge of those once-proud, 'legacy' stations are toadying little twits who will do whatever they're told. They are the kind of people who happily filling the roles of foot soldiers for the worst radio company in America. I really look forward to to the day when I hear that Cumulus Media has gone bankrupt. It will happen, but unfortunately, not soon enough.
ReplyDeleteIt's spelled "Escarsega", and very few people at Cumulus SF know that Ron refused to fire the weekend staff, as requested he do by the Dickeys. They wanted the whole thing replaced, but Ron said "I have to develop weekend talent...news isn't working...in case we go back to talk."
DeleteDickey didn't like Ron telling him no, so they let him go, but not before offering him a job in Fresno.
Ron stood up for the weekend talent, and lost his job because of it.
They replaced him with Kevin Metheny, who hired Drex and Chip Franklin.
Maybe talking about something you know.
The problem with hiring John Rothmann is not his qualifications or performance... it's the salary he would (rightfully) command, in order to make this his full-time pursuit. There is a significant gulf between the minimum salary John would accept, and the maximum Cululus would be willing to pay for a local talk-show host. Maybe if they developed a network specialty show for John and offered it over Westwood One, they could achieve an economy of scale, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteThese are tumultuous times and the irrelevancy of KGO is all the more painfully evident. In the past, KGO served as the gathering place for discussion, now it is just a silly mish-mash of irritating yappers. Ronn has been insufferable for a long time with his damnable "I'm so moderate" pap. The only one worth listening to is John Rothmann and no one ever knows when he will be on. Such a shame.
ReplyDelete